Passing a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives normally takes a simple majority of the members present and voting. When every one of the 435 seats is filled and every member votes yes or no, that means 218 votes. The number can be lower if seats are vacant or if members vote “present,” and it climbs to two-thirds for a handful of specific actions like overriding a veto or moving a bill under a fast-track procedure.
Why 218 Is the Usual Number
The Constitution never fixes a specific vote count for ordinary legislation. It says only that a bill must pass both the House and the Senate before going to the President. In practice, “pass” means a majority of those present and voting, assuming a quorum is in the chamber. With all 435 seats filled and everyone voting, that majority is 218.1Congress.gov. Supermajority Votes in the House
The math shifts when the full membership isn’t participating. If several seats are vacant because of deaths, resignations, or expulsions, the quorum shrinks and the number needed to win drops with it. Three vacancies would leave the House at 432 members, a quorum at 217, and a simple majority adjusted accordingly.2Government Publishing Office. House Practice – Chapter 43 Quorums
Members can also vote “present” instead of yea or nay. A present vote counts toward establishing a quorum but not as a vote cast for or against the bill. If enough members choose that route, a bill can technically pass with well under 218 yea votes. Members most often use it when they have a personal conflict of interest and want to avoid the appearance of self-dealing.
One detail trips people up: a tie kills the measure. The House has no tiebreaker. Unlike the Senate, where the Vice President breaks ties, if the yeas and nays come out even in the House, the bill fails.3Government Publishing Office. House Practice – Chapter 58 Voting
When Two-Thirds Is Required Instead
A few situations lift the bar from simple majority to two-thirds of those present and voting. With full participation, that’s 290 votes.
Suspension of the Rules
The House has a fast-track procedure called suspension of the rules that skips the normal committee review and amendment process. It’s governed by House Rule XV and is meant for relatively noncontroversial bills where broad agreement already exists.4Congress.gov. Suspension of the Rules in the House – Principal Features
The tradeoff for speed is a higher vote threshold: two-thirds of the members present and voting must approve. Floor debate is capped at 40 minutes and no amendments are allowed, so whatever version the sponsor brings to the floor is the version members vote on.5Congress.gov. Suspension of the Rules – House Practice in the 117th Congress
Hundreds of bills pass under suspension every Congress, from renaming post offices to reauthorizing popular programs. If a bill falls short of two-thirds, leadership can bring it back later under normal rules, where a simple majority is enough. That fallback keeps the suspension attempt low-risk.
Overriding a Presidential Veto
When the President vetoes a bill, the chamber that originally passed it gets the first crack at an override. The Constitution requires two-thirds of the members present and voting, and then the other chamber must clear the same bar. Only if both do does the bill become law without the President’s signature.6Constitution Annotated. U.S. Constitution Article I Section 7
Getting to 290 House votes is genuinely difficult because it usually requires members of the President’s own party to break ranks in large numbers. Out of roughly 2,600 presidential vetoes in American history, Congress has overridden only about 112, a rate well below 5%.7U.S. Senate. Vetoes, 1789 to Present
Proposing Constitutional Amendments
Amending the Constitution is intentionally harder than passing an ordinary bill. Article V requires two-thirds of the members present and voting in both the House and the Senate to propose an amendment. A 1920 Supreme Court decision clarified that this means two-thirds of those present, assuming a quorum, not two-thirds of the entire membership.8Constitution Annotated. ArtV.1 Overview of Article V, Amending the Constitution
After both chambers approve, the proposal goes to the states. Three-fourths of state legislatures, currently 38 out of 50, must ratify before the amendment takes effect. The President plays no role and cannot veto a proposed amendment.
Quorum: What Has to Be in the Room
None of these thresholds matter if the House lacks enough members present to act. The Constitution requires a majority of the full membership to be present as a quorum before the House can conduct business. With all 435 seats filled, that’s 218 members.9Constitution Annotated. Article I Section 5 – Proceedings
The House generally assumes a quorum is present unless someone challenges it. Any member can raise a point of order asserting that a quorum isn’t in the chamber, which forces a formal head count. If the count comes up short, the House either adjourns or directs the Sergeant at Arms to round up absent members.2Government Publishing Office. House Practice – Chapter 43 Quorums
Other House Votes That Use Different Thresholds
Passing a bill is the most common vote in the House, but not the only one. A few other actions use their own rules, and they come up often enough to be worth knowing.
- Impeachment. The House can impeach a President, federal judge, or other civil officer by simple majority on one or more articles. The trial then moves to the Senate, where a two-thirds vote is needed to convict and remove.10U.S. Senate. About Impeachment
- Expelling a member. The House can expel one of its own only with a two-thirds vote. Censure and reprimand, which are lesser punishments, take a simple majority.11U.S. Senate. About Expulsion
- Discharge petition. When a bill is stuck in committee, a majority of the full House (218 members) can sign a discharge petition to force it onto the floor. It’s rare because members are reluctant to go around their own committee chairs, but it works as a pressure valve when leadership blocks a popular bill.
- Contingent presidential election. If no candidate wins a majority of the Electoral College, the House picks the President. Under the Twelfth Amendment, each state delegation gets one vote and a candidate needs a majority of states, at least 26 out of 50, to win.12Congress.gov. Twelfth Amendment
- Lifting insurrection disqualification. Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment bars anyone who swore an oath to support the Constitution and then engaged in insurrection from holding office. Congress can lift that disqualification only with a two-thirds vote of each chamber.13Legal Information Institute. 14th Amendment